


Cats, and You

by RosaF7



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Ice Skating, Fluff, M/M, References to Animal Abuse, Yuri swears a lot, minor references to sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-18 18:49:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9398345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosaF7/pseuds/RosaF7
Summary: Cat Rescue Shelter AU -Yuri/OtabekYuri works at a cat rescue shelter. Somebody turns up outside of visiting hours, wanting to adopt a cat. Yuri can't believe this entitled jerk expects him to drop all his work just to show him around.He didn't expect the jerk to be this cute, though.Damn.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yuri + cats is an endless love affair. 
> 
> This was meant to be a short one-shot but it's gotten away from me a little so I decided to split it up into 3 chapters. It hasn't been checked so please let me know if there are any typos and the such like! 
> 
> Yuri is 22 in this, Otabek is 25. 
> 
> No one is a ice-skater. Everyone loves cats. Obviously. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

“Come on, there we go, just take that first step, you’ll be alright,” Yuri cooed softly, waiting patiently for Zoya -the scrappy grey tabby cat they had picked up off the street two nights ago – to make her way out of the cat carrier. Zoya was most likely a former house cat, probably abandoned after her owners found out she was pregnant. Yuri had just brought her back to the rescue centre after a visit to the cat shelter’s regular vet –Dr. Victor Nikiforav. Although she was significantly underweight, and had a few scabs from fights with other cats, the vet felt that with the care she would receive at the shelter, she and her future offspring should make it through. She was still hesitant around humans though, and she was huddled anxiously in the cat carrier, refusing to step come out. Yuri took another step away, and crouched down, trying to give her more space. “There, there, we’ll get there.”

Yuri could hear some voices in the background, but he ignored them. Public visiting hours were 9am to 12 noon on Saturdays and it was almost 2pm. There were occasionally some people who turned up outside of visiting hours without an appointment, though. Yuri found this infuriating. Didn’t these people realise that the shelter staff had work to do? In any case, dealing with the public was Mila’s job. She would handle it.

The door swung open only moments later though, and Mila bounced in. She had a grin on her face and was looking far too pleased with herself for Yuri’s liking. “Oh Yurrrrrriiiiiiii.”

“What do you want, old lady?”

She sat herself down right next to Yuri, and then noticed Zoya, still hiding in the cat carrier. “Aw, poor darling,” Mila said, peering in. “What did Nikiforov say?”

“She should be ok. He said if we’d found her a few weeks later, it might’ve been too late. But we should be able to help her regain her weight, and she should be ok for when the kittens are due,” Yuri said quietly. Then he scowled. “And then Nikiforov spent about 5 hours gushing about his stupid fiancé and how wonderful he is, and ugh, it was gross. That’s not why I was there. Stupid lovesick fool. We should get a new vet.”

“Oh, I’m so glad Zoya will be ok,” Mila said, ignoring his minor rant. Dr Victor Nikiforav was one of the best vets in town, and he provided the shelter with his services at barely any cost. The shelter was lucky to have a relationship with him. “So, on the topic of _loooovvve…._ ”

“I swear, if you fucking tell me one more time how many times you came last night I will fucking kill you.” Sara, Mila’s Italian girlfriend, was visiting St. Petersburg for a week, and Yuri had just about had it with hearing recaps of their every date, with far too much detail for his liking.

Mila just laughed and put an arm around him. “Oh Yuri! Look, I promise not to tell you how many times I come tonight if you do me just one favour.”

“Fucking liar,” Yuri said, glaring at her. “What do you want?”

“Well, you know I’m leaving work early today because I have to see my beloved, the light of my life, the only woman who makes my heart -”

“Get to the point,” Yuri growled.

“So I have to leave. Now. And there’s someone here, and he’s looking to adopt and he needs to be shown around, and if I leave, well that leaves you to do the showing and –”

“No.”

“ _Yuri_.”

“No. I won’t show whoever the fuck it is around. Visiting hours closed ages ago, and he doesn’t have an appointment. Rules are rules. We don’t have to drop everything just because some random turned up because it suits him. You can go on your damned date and he can come back next week or make a fucking appointment like everybody else.”

Mila sighed. “Yuri, I know the rules. But you know we had to pick up nine extra cats this week. We’re at capacity. We need to rehome some of them, as soon as we can. It’s already getting too crowded in here.”

The mention of the extra cats makes Yuri’s anger flare up. Some disgusting brute had been keeping numerous cats locked up, abusing them for his own twisted purposes. An anonymous tip off had been sent to a local animal activist group and they had investigated the matter, storming the premises once the abuse had been confirmed. The shelter was pretty much always at capacity anyway, but the additional cats had made it overcrowded.

“I’ll take them home,” Yuri states, voice still tight with anger at the animal abuser.

Mila gives him a look, but it’s gentle. “You have three already, you can’t take any more in your apartment, Yuri. You know this.”

“I’ll move somewhere bigger,” Yuri declares, but they both know it’s a pipe dream. Working at a shelter did not pay well, and a significant portion of Yuri’s income went to supporting his grandfather back in Moscow, too.

“Yuri, just show him around. If he’s decent, and he takes a liking to one of cats, that’d be fantastic for us,” Mila says. Then she grins. “And if he’s a fucking weirdo, or a creep, I have no doubt you’ll be able to show him the door.”

Yuri grunts. “Fine. After I get Zoya settled in. He can wait, if he’s so fucking keen.”

Mila squeezes his shoulder, briefly. “I’ll let him know. Thanks, Yuri.”

Yuri merely grunts again, and goes back to gently trying to entice Zoya out of her carrier.

It’s about twenty minutes later when he’s settled Zoya into her sleeping quarters that he heads to the reception area of the shelter.

The lone visitor is sitting in one of the hard orange plastic seats, dressed in dark grey jeans and a simple white t-shirt. A small pendant hangs from a chain around his neck. He’s looking down and doesn’t notice Yuri’s entry, seemingly absorbed in one of the dated trash magazines they leave lying around at reception. Yuri peaks a glance at the article –it was something about two movie stars cheating with each other, and how the partners they were cheating on were also apparently cheating with each other too. How fucking inane. Yuri snorts, and the sounds alerts the other man to him. He slides the magazine aside and stands up immediately, holding his hand out. “Otabek Altin. Thank you for seeing me.”

His words are unfailingly polite, but there’s no smile on his face. His eyes are oddly intense as he looks at Yuri, and Yuri suddenly feels self-conscious. He’s sure he looks ratty and unpresentable. His hair is a mess, falling half out of a loose bun, he’s wearing an faded red hoodie and his black skinny jeans are visibly covered in cat hair. He’s had a long day, and it tells. Then he thinks -why the fuck should he care how he looks? He works hands on with cats at a fucking shelter, he can’t be expected to look as put together like this entitled jerk –who probably spent the whole morning drinking expensive coffee and lazing about before deciding to inconvenience him. _Asshole_.

“Yuri,” He finally says, and he shakes the other man’s hand, a little harder than necessary. “Visiting hours are 9am to 12 noon on Saturdays. Or by appointment. It’s only as a favour to Mila that I’m showing you around. I have plenty of work to do.”

The man –Otabek – does not seem fazed by Yuri’s clear displeasure for this task. “I see,” He says, his tone neutral.

“I doubt you _see_ anything, but I’ll show you around. You better keep in mind that we have a strict assessment policy –we only adopt out cats to people who meet our criteria, because we care about them, and their safety and wellbeing is our top priority here. We only send them to safe and secure homes, and you shouldn’t expect to walk away with one of them today, on the spot, just because you want to.”

Otabek inclines his head slightly in acknowledgement of Yuri’s words, but adds nothing further.

His muted response infuriates Yuri, and arms crossed, he glares at the man. “Do you understand what I’m saying? Because if we go in there, and you think you can just take any cat you want, just like that, I’m going to be fucking pissed off.”

Otabek meets his gaze, and he doesn’t look angry or annoyed, he just looks slightly unimpressed. Which tells Yuri nothing, because the man has looked slightly unimpressed since the moment he saw him. “I understand-,” Otabek starts slowly and deliberately, “-that you are already - _fucking pissed off_.” He pauses for a moment. “Now. Are you going to show me around or not?”

Yuri sees red, and he can feel himself almost burst with the sudden surge of anger that hits him. Yuri can think of about twelve different swear words he wants to use right then, and he’s not quite sure what stops his tongue. Maybe it’s the way that Otabek is looking at him –like anything he said did or said in anger would simply be met with indifference. Maybe. 

“Fine. I’ll fucking show you around,” He spits out, and somehow he manages to restrict himself to just that, and a filthy glare, before he slams open the door, charging through it, fast and furious. 

Otabek follows him calmly. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri shows Otabek around the shelter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is finally done! 
> 
> There are a few sentences in here that are in Kazakh, and I used Google Translate to do the translations so....I'm not entirely sure how accurate the translations are......! In any case, translations are provided in the notes at the end of the chapter. 
> 
> This hasn't been beta'd so feel free to let me know if there are typos and the such like. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy some more Yuri + Otabek + cats!

The shelter area smells like cat. _Strongly_ of cat. It’s kept clean, but given that there are 15 to 30 cats in the area at any given point, the smell is unavoidable. Yuri knows it’s off-putting for a lot of people, but for him it’s like a balm, and he feels a little soothed immediately, his anger turned down a notch. The cats are housed in pens, generally one cat per pen, unless the cats have been found together, and they are comfortable sharing. The pens aren’t tiny, but still, it’s not ideal, Yuri knows. But it allows them to keep the cats safe whilst they undertake health checks, are vaccinated if needed, and are socialised. After the initial health checks, they try to get the cats into foster care as soon as possible. The shelter has a network of foster carers on hand, but there’s never quite enough foster carers for the amount of cats that need care. In an ideal world, all the cats would be moved into a safe and loving foster situation, but it doesn’t work like that, and sometimes some cats are kept at the shelter for a while. And that’s not even to mention all the cats that they can’t accept –the cats who might end up at other shelters, or worse, at the pound. The cats who end up euthanized, _dead_ , simply because some selfish as fuck human being didn’t care enough about them.

In the past, Mila had tried to tell him that sometimes people ended up in circumstances beyond their control, that they sometimes didn’t mean to let go of a cat, that maybe they couldn’t afford it anymore, that maybe they hadn’t been able to see any other option. Yuri doesn’t give a fuck. As far as he was concerned, humans were a selfish species that didn’t appreciate the true value of cats – _all_ cats. Not just the pretty ones on show, or the breed cats with unique features, but the simple grey tabbies, the fat calicos, and the unwanted black cats too.  Yuri wished he could take them all home with him.

There’s a few little meows as they enter the room, but the one that stands out is a loud plaintive cry, an almost painful noise. Yuri immediately forgets his anger, and rushes towards Rizhik –a small ginger cat –one of the nine they had recently picked up. Rizhik had been criminally underfed, and had an untreated ringworm infection when he had come into their care. He was still unsettled, and cried often. “Hey there, Rizhik,” Yuri says, peering into his pen. Rizhik stares out at him, his yellow eyes startling and big. A quick scan of the pen reveals that nothing is obviously wrong –there was still some dry food in his bowl and the litter tray didn’t need replacement either. “What’s wrong there, baby?”

Rizhik simply gives another loud cry, and moves to the front of the pen. He had become more comfortable with Yuri over the last few days, and he rubs his head against the cage, this time with a smaller, quieter meow. “Do you want a cuddle, hmm?” Yuri asks, as he unlocks the door. He presents his hand out for Rizhik to sniff a little, and then he gently rubs down his flank, the orange fur soft under his hand. Rizhik rolls and Yuri continues stroking him, careful and gentle with his movements. “There we go, that’s ok isn’t it,” He mutters, as Rizhik purrs softly.

“What happened to him?” The question is asked quietly, but it still startles him a little. Yuri had forgotten about Otabek for a moment, lost in his moment with the cat. Otabek is standing close –but not too close- looking down at Rizhik with something that looks _almost_ like concern on his near expressionless face.

“ _Bastard_ ,” Yuri spits out angrily, and anybody else probably would’ve flinched. Otabek just looks at him. “Not you,” Yuri clarifies, after taking a deep breath. “Rizhik and ten other cats were……..there was a man, a fucking disgusting piece of shit who doesn’t deserve to be called human, even. He had eleven cats and he….Rizhik seems like he was mostly neglected, which is fucking bad enough, but some of the other cats –some of the other cats had been beaten. Two of them we couldn’t save. They were too…..far gone, they had to be put down. The vet thinks the other nine can be saved….we’ve got them on special diets so that they can try and regain weight, and their injuries have been treated. It’s going to be hard to find them all homes though.”

“That’s a very sad situation,” Otabek says softly. “I wonder what would bring someone to do that to innocent animals.”

“Who gives a fuck _why_?” Yuri snaps, but this time there’s less anger and more sadness in his voice now. “The point is that he did it. I don’t really give a fuck about his sob story or whatever other shit he’ll try and come up with, if the matter even goes to court. It probably won’t even get to court. If I had my way, I’d lock him up and throw away the key. It’s so fucked up, there shouldn’t be any second chances for people who abuse animals.”

“Hmm,” Otabek murmurs, but the sound gives no indication as to whether he agrees or disagrees with Yuri.

Rizhik has now decided he’s bored of Yuri. He gets up, and moves, sitting so he is just out of reach. “Had enough of me, have you Rizhik?” Yuri teases. “You’ll miss me in a moment, I’m telling you.” Rizhik ignores Yuri, bringing up one of his toes to clean.

Yuri closes the pen door and turns to Otabek, his arms folded. He’d gotten completely distracted by Rizhik. Mila normally managed the turn around with each customer within about 15 minutes and it had already been longer than that. “I suppose I should show you around.”

“This has already been a very intriguing start,” Otabek says, and there’s something in his voice Yuri can’t read.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Yuri snaps. “If you’re having a go at my customer service skills, you can shut the fuck up. It’s not even part of my job.”

For the first time, there’s a hint of a smile on Otabek’s face. Just a hint. “I meant nothing bad,” He simply says. He doesn’t explain further.

Yuri opens his mouth to ask again exactly what he did mean, but before he can, Otabek speaks. “Shall we continue then?”

Yuri grunts at him, but decides to just get on with it. The sooner he goes through it, the sooner he’ll be done with this, which is so not part of his job anyway. And the sooner he’ll be done with this irritating man. 

“So you can have a look at any of the cats in this room, or the rooms out that way. We’re at full capacity at the moment. If you see a cat you like, let me know. Depending on how ready they are for human contact, I could take them out of their pen for you to play with. Can’t guarantee it though. I _won’t_ let them out if they’re not ready to meet strangers,” Yuri says, glaring at Otabek. “As I said earlier, we have a strict process for adopting out cats and we don’t just hand them out to anyone. You have to be the right person, and you have to show that you’re capable of caring for a cat.”

“You did mention something to that effect, earlier,” Otabek says, and this time there _is_ a smirk on his face. A small smirk, but it’s there. “I believe you’ve made yourself _very_ clear.”

“Well,” Yuri huffs. “Turning up out of the blue and expecting to be shown around outside of visiting hours is a little presumptuous. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t think we’d bend other rules for you too. Because we won’t. _I_ won’t.”

“That wasn’t intentional.  I didn’t know what the visiting hours were - it doesn’t actually list the visiting hours on your door. I did tell your co-worker that I would come another time, but she said it was ok.”

Yuri scoffs. “Visiting hours are listed all over the damn website. And our Facebook. And our Instagram. _Come visit us from 9am to 12 noon Saturdays! Or call us to make an appointment!_ There’s no way to miss it.”

“I didn’t look online,” Otabek states, frowning. “You have a website?”

Yuri just stares at him, speechless.

“I live nearby, I just saw the shelter walking past after work the other day, and I’ve been wanting to adopt a cat so I thought I would come in on the weekend,” Otabek explains.

Yuri is still speechless. His mouth is moving, but there are no sounds coming out.

“Uh. Are you alright?”

“You haven’t seen our website???” He finally manages to squeak out.

“No,” Otabek says simply. “I don’t care much for the internet.”

Yuri’s eyes are so wide he thinks they might pop out. “What the fuck? Literally _everybody_ has seen our website. Even the old grandmas and grandpas who want to adopt have seen our website. Our website is where _everything_ is.”

Otabek shrugs. “The cats are here. That’s all I wanted to see.”

“Oh my god.” Yuri holds his hands up against his face for a moment. “Are you fucking kidding me? _The cats are all online_.  Well, we have some of them –but we can hold only up to 30 here at a time, and generally we try to get them into foster care as soon as we can. We’ve got almost 100 cats available online, in foster care.”

“Oh.”

“Most- probably 95% - of our adoptions are via the website. That’s why we have such limited visiting hours.”

“Oh.”

“ _Oh_ , indeed,” Yuri says, rolling his eyes. “Go have a look around at the cats. I’ll boot up the computer so you can have a look at the website while you’re here. Seems like it might be a little out of your skill set to do it at home.”

“I _do_ know how to use the internet,” Otabek says, and there’s the tiniest hint of a blush on his face. He runs a hand through his black hair, unintentionally fluffing it out, before turning quickly to go and occupy himself looking at the cats. He’s embarrassed.

It’s cute.

Wait. What.

He’s not cute, he’s fucking irritating, Yuri reminds himself. He’s totally put out Yuri’s schedule for the day, and he’ll probably end up having to stay late just to get back on top of things.

Yuri glances over his shoulder, watches as Otabek leans down to look into one of the cat pens. It’s Moorka’s pen –she’s a fluffy white cat, lazy and proud. Otabek peers in, and he can hear him muttering something softly to the cat. Moorka looks both uninterested and unimpressed, and doesn’t even turn her head his way. Otabek smiles softly and then moves onto looking at the next cat.

Irritating _and_ cute, Yuri decides. Damn him.

The shelter computer is old and slow. It takes ages for Yuri to get the website up, but even when he’s ready, Otabek is still making his way through the cat pens. He’s slow and methodological, stopping to look at every single cat. If the cat is sleeping, he just observes it for a moment before moving on. If the cat is awake, he leans over and speaks to it softly, watching for a reaction. Sometimes the cat ignores him, as cats are wont to do. Other times, the cat will go close to him, meowing, or rubbing their heads against the pen door. Otabek with cats is different to the Otabek he’s seen. He smiles, for one. He smiles easily and brightly, if a cat comes close to him. And he speaks –constantly. Yuri can’t hear what he’s saying, he’s still quiet, but speak he does. In sentences that seem to flow, things that seem to make him smile, things that make some of the cats lean closer and try and get into his hands.

The man is even cuter when he smiles. And he’s clearly good with cats. Damn.

Yuri sneaks a little closer, trying to be as quiet as possible. Otabek is at Zoya’s pen now, and somehow the shy cat has come up to front of the pen, and is pressing her head against the cage. Otabek is gently rubbing the top of her head, his fingers sliding through the cage bars. His tone is soft. He’s baby talking to the cat and she’s lapping it up. She meows softly and he laughs, whispering something to her again. Yuri still can’t here so he leans in a little further, from where he is, hiding just behind a filing cabinet.

“Егер сіз тәтті мысық боласыз.”  

He’s not speaking Russian. This, in itself is not a huge surprise. Otabek has a slight accent when he speaks Russian, and Yuri had assumed that he was from outside of St. Petersburg, for sure, and perhaps from outside of Russia, too. Yuri leans in further, to see if he can hear better, to figure out which language he’s speaking, but he ends up banging straight into the filing cabinet, accidentally knocking a whole pile of files to the floor. _Damn Mila_ , he thinks, for not putting the files away, as he gathers the files together quickly, trying not to appear as flustered as he feels.

Otabek just looks up at Yuri, one eyebrow raised, a slight smile across his lips at catching Yuri snooping on him.

This time it’s Yuri blushing –except his skin is pale and it shows easily. Not for him, a slight hint of red across his cheeks. No. His whole faces flushes bright red, and he can feel the blush creeping down his chest too. He probably looks the same colour as his hoodie. Except even brighter, because his stupid hoodie is faded.

“What the fuck are you looking at?” He growls.

There’s a glint of mischief in Otabek’s dark brown eyes. “I could be asking you that question.”

“I’m checking on you, obviously. Who knows what the fuck you might be doing with the cats? We get all types and it’s my job to make sure they’re safe.”

Otabek’s smile widens. “I see.”

“Hmph.” Yuri moves close, and reaches out for Zoya himself. She tilts her head so he can rub under her chin.

“ол өте сүйкімді болып табылады,” Otabek murmurs, in the same soft tone as before.

“What are you saying?”

“сүйкімді және сәл ашулы.”

“ _What are you saying??_ ” Yuri growls.  

“Are you worried about what I might be saying to her?” Otabek reaches over to pet Zoya as well, and for a moment, their fingers touch. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. But it’s for her ears only.”

Yuri huffs. His assessment of Otabek as irritating was undoubtedly correct. How dare he sweet talk the cats and act like an annoying as fuck asshole towards him!

“Would you open the cage for me? I would like to spend some more time with her. She’s very sweet.”

Yuri doesn’t respond, but he gets the key and unlocks the pen, opening the door slowly as not to startle Zoya. She runs back to the edge of the pen as soon as the door opens. She’s on edge again and he cooes to her softly, standing back a little from the pen. “Come on there,” He says softly. “There’s an annoying fuck here who has taken a liking to you.”

Yuri’s words are incongruent with his tone, and Otabek laughs softly. He then moves towards the front of the pen, hunched down. “мұнда, Кити келіп.”

Zoya is hesitant for a little while longer but slowly she makes her way to the front of the pen again, and Yuri takes her gently into his arms, before placing her down on the ground. They both crouch down and after a while, she lets Otabek pet her. He is careful to avoid her injuries, and is looking concerned at her weight. “What’s her story?”

“We don’t know the full story because she was simply found on the street but she’s pregnant and it’s not uncommon for people to abandon their cats when they find out they’re pregnant,” Yuri explains. “Humans are fucking disgusting. They’re the irresponsible idiots who don’t get their cats desexed, but then they chuck their cats out when they get pregnant. ” Yuri feels a surge of fury, and finds his fist is balled up, ready to slam against the nearest surface. He takes a deep breath in and out. He can’t act on his anger here, he would scare the cats. “People just don’t fucking think. They just think oh, this cat is cute, she’ll be fun for the kids, or whatever, they don’t think ahead. It’s selfish. It’s not even –I get it, desexing costs money. But we provide it at a low cost here, and if someone can’t afford it, we can sometimes get Nikiforav to do it for free. It’s not even that though, a lot of time. Most of the time, it’s just that people don’t fucking think about what could happen, even though it’s so obvious!”

Otabek is quiet for a moment, watching Yuri. “You’re very passionate about cats.”

Yuri snorts. “No shit.”

“When you speak about them, you have a look in your eyes,” Otabek continues, his tone serious. “When you speak about them, you have the eyes of a soldier.”

“What?” Yuri asks softly, shocked. Is Otabek making fun of him? The eyes of a soldier? What the fuck? Most people had expected him to grow out of his passion for cats. It was cute when he was young, but as he had grown, it had become something the other kids teased him about. Everyone liked cats –well, most people did- but his passion for the creatures was out of the ordinary, and he’d spent a fair amount of his teenage years fighting with other boys in his class who thought he was a ‘fairy’ for having what they thought was a feminine interest. And now, being a 22 year old man who _lived_ for cats, worked in a cat shelter and preferred the company of cats to humans……well, Yuri didn’t care too much what people thought of him, but he knew that most people would still choose the term ‘fairy’ over ‘soldier’ for him any day. This was…..unexpected.

“I can see the determination in your eyes. And the fire. You care about cats. Lots of people do. But most people won’t fight. You take the fight on, you fight to protect them. And you have been through the fight before, and you can see where the fight will lead, and sometimes there’s pain. But you go forward anyway.”

There’s no mockery in his voice. Otabek just says this as if it were a simple fact, his gaze direct and clear.

Yuri just blinks at him. Otabek’s words stir something in him. The man barely knows him, but somehow the words provide some strange kind of validation for the years of teasing he endured, for the way people still consider him odd for the path he has chosen to take in life.

“You only just met me,” He protests.

“I can see it in your eyes,” Otabek says, and again, he says this as if it were so clearly true, as if there was no doubt about it.

They are both silent for a moment, their eyes intense, locked on each other.  

Their moment is interrupted by an irritated meow. Zoya is unhappy that Otabek is distracted and is no longer petting her. She knocks her head against Otabek’s hands, the message clear.

“Мен осындамын, шыдамсыз болуы емес,” Otabek says, laughing softly, as he reaches to scratch her on her neck. She purrs softly. 

“I’m speaking to her in Kazakh,” Otabek explains. “I always speak to cats in Kazakh.” 

“Why?” Yuri asks, genuinely curious now.

“I am Kazakhstani, and it’s my first language, and the language I am most comfortable with. I know Russian fluently as well –I’ve been speaking Russian since I was young, but Kazakh is the language I speak to my family in, and the language I think in,” Otabek says. “Cats speak every language there is on earth, so I simply speak to them in the language that is closest to my heart. They understand.”

Yuri nods at this. Cats were indeed wise creatures. “How long have you been here?”

At this, Otabek frowns slightly. It’s not too different from his usual expression, but there’s a slight movement of his lips downwards. He’s lost the ease he had just moments ago. “Just over 2 years.”

“You don’t like it here?”

He considers Yuri’s question seriously, all the time rubbing gently at Zoya’s round belly. “I don’t dislike it. I suppose I haven’t really given it a chance.”

“Why not?”

Otabek is silent for a long time. Yuri thinks he might not answer him. But then he says, “I came here because my girlfriend was offered a job here, and it was a good opportunity for her. It was a difficult move, to leave my family in Almaty, but I thought….. I thought it was the right decision for us at the time. It didn’t work out between us, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to stay, so I didn’t end up getting to know the city as well as I would have liked.”

Yuri tries to follow Otabek’s words, though the word that really rings out for him is _girlfriend_. He’s straight, he tells himself. Just because he’s damned cute and fed you some (probably) bullshit line about having the eyes of a soldier doesn’t mean he’s interested like  _that_.

He’s been quiet for too long, and Otabek is watching him quietly with his dark intense eyes. Yuri scowls and manages to get out –“So why’re you trying to adopt a cat if you’re planning on leaving?”

“I’m not planning on leaving anymore. At least, not for a while.”

“Oh.” Yuri tries to feign disinterest as he asks the next question. “Why, you met a new girlfriend or something?”

Otabek quirks his lip, there’s a hint of a smile. “Or something,” He agrees.

What a pathetic answer. “Huh.”

“Even though I wanted to go back home when my ex and I broke up, I had a strong sense that I should stay here, that there was something waiting for me here. So I stayed.”

“A strong sense?”

“Yes.”

“Is this some fortune teller type bullshit? You stayed in a city you hate because you had some kind of fucking feeling?”

Otabek shrugs, unconcerned. “I trust my feelings. My feelings, combined with hard work –these are the things that have led me to where I am today.”

“Huh.” Yuri is unimpressed and tries to draw to the conversation back to his actual interest. “So you found this _something_ , did you?"

“And I never said I hated it here. I said I haven’t given myself the chance to like it yet.”

“Huh.”

“Perhaps I have found the _something_ ,” Otabek says with a gentle smile, as he looks down at Zoya, who is now purring as he strokes her flank in long, slow motions. She looks very content in his hands. “Perhaps Zoya is the _something_ I was meant to find.”

Yuri snorts. “Right.”

“I’m not joking. I would like to adopt her.”

Yuri thinks to remind him that he hasn’t even had a look online, at all the cats available for adoption, but they look a picture, the two of them –Zoya content and trusting, still not leaving Otabek’s side, and Otabek looking down at her gently, his smile soft and genuine. Zoya has taken to him, and he knows they would be a good match. “Сіз Зоя келіп, менімен өмір сүріп келе ме?” Otabek says to Zoya, before looking up at Yuri. “I asked her whether she would like to come and live with me.”

Yuri leans over, and scratches just under her chin. “You would like that wouldn’t you, sweet pea? You would like that a lot.”

Otabek smirks. “I thought there was a _very_ strict assessment process?”

“There is! Just because she likes the idea doesn’t mean I do.” Yuri glares at Otabek. “You’ll have to fill in the application form.”

“Of course.”

“And because she’s pregnant, there’s additional factors I need to check. I’ll have to go through some extra questions with you.”

“Of course.” Still, that same smirk. It’s infuriating.

And also adorable.

Damn.

-

It takes another hour for them to fill in the paperwork. There’s no real reason why Yuri has to be there to fill it in with him……but……well, he pretends to himself that it makes the process more efficient. Imagine, if he just gave Otabek all these forms, and told him to do it himself, well what if he took ages to actually get them in? A week? Or even a month? It’s a pretty flimsy lie. Otabek seems very much like the type of person who would have the paperwork back first thing in the morning. Still, Yuri has to tell himself something, give himself a good reason as to why he’s ended up spending half the day with the impromptu visitor instead of shooing him out at the first opportunity.

There’s nothing in Otabek’s responses that would stop him being granted adoption of Zoya. If anything, he seems like he would be an amazing fit for her. He’s got experience looking after cats, as his family had three cats back in Kazakhstan. He’s got enough of an income to provide for Zoya’s needs, and his rental apartment allows residents to have pets. He’s willing to follow the specific care requirements after she gives birth, which include returning the kittens to the cat shelter, and ensuring that Zoya doesn’t have any contact with other cats until she’s well enough to be desexed. And he clearly cares about her already.

But Yuri still has _some_ pride, and he insists that he needs to properly assess the paperwork before proceeding with the adoption. And in reality, even if Otabek is ready to adopt her right there and then, Yuri still needs to make preparations for her – he needs to make sure that he prepares a care document for Otabek so that he’ll know exactly what her food and medicinal requirements are. She’s still healing and underweight, and he doesn’t want to rush that kind of preparation.

When they finish up with the paperwork, they head back to Zoya’s pen so that Otabek can say goodbye. Zoya comes right up to the front of the pen and Otabek squeezes his hand through the bars to scratch gently under her chin. She purrs.

“When will I find out whether I can adopt her?”

Yuri considers. He’s not working on Sunday, but he’s back on Monday morning and he should be able to have everything ready to go then. “Monday. You can come by in the afternoon.”

Otabek turns to him with a smile. “Come by? Does that mean it’s a yes, then?”

“No!” Yuri snaps. “It just means –it just means you can come by to find out what I’ve decided. Whether yes or NO.”

“I see.” The damn idiot is smirking again.

“Hmph,” Yuri huffs. “You should hurry the fuck up. I do have other work to do today, you know.”

“Мен дүйсенбі, тәтті аз мысық сіздерді алуға болады. маған тым көп жіберіп алмаңыздар.” Otabek’s smirk transforms into a soft smile as he turns his attention to Zoya again. And then back to a smirk as he turns to Yuri. “I told her that I would be here on Monday to take her home, and not to miss me too much.” 

Yuri snorts, but doesn’t make any other response as they make their way towards the exit. When they get to the door, Yuri swings it open, motioning for Otabek to get out.

Otabek stands just outside, his hands in his pockets. His smirk is gone now, and he brushes a hand through his hair, looking a little unsure now. His gaze is intense. “When I come back on Monday…..will you be here?”

The intensity of his look makes Yuri’s heart pound a little faster, and there’s a strange twist in his stomach. Nonetheless, Yuri rolls his eyes. “ _Obviously_. I work here, you idiot.”

“Good,” Otabek says, with soft smile. He holds out his hand, and this time, Yuri doesn’t shake it a little harder than necessary. “Good. I will see you and Zoya on Monday, Yuri.”

Yuri grunts, but he can’t help the smile on his face.

“See you on Monday, Otabek Altin,” He says softly, when he’s gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the translations for what Otabek says in Kazakh (via Google Translate):
> 
> “Егер сіз тәтті мысық боласыз” – You’re a sweet cat.
> 
> “ол өте сүйкімді болып табылады” –He is very cute 
> 
> “сүйкімді және сәл ашулы” –Cute and a bit angry. 
> 
> “мұнда, Кити келіп” –Here, kitty
> 
> “Мен осындамын, шыдамсыз болуы емес” –I’m here, do not be impatient 
> 
> “Сіз Зоя келіп, менімен өмір сүріп келе ме?” – Would you like to come and live with me, Zoya?
> 
> “Мен дүйсенбі, тәтті аз мысық сіздерді алуға болады. маған тым көп жіберіп алмаңыздар.”  
> \- I will pick you up on Monday, sweet little cat. Don't miss me too much.
> 
> I hope you are enjoying the fic so far. 
> 
> Please comment and/or leave kudos if you have enjoyed it, comments and kudos feed me!! :-)


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